Rise of INDRA
by QueenofNightmore
Summary: When The Avengers get a threat from the Infamous INDRA telling them to give something back. Fury remembers that they have one 'guest' that knows them. Problem: She's insane. Crazy, plain old asylum insane. And that's where she is, in an asylum. She has MANY powers. And MANY ways to hate INDRA. She tells them that there's going to be a battle that will kill the world. AoU Spoilers!
1. Prologue

**7 Years Ago**

"Where is she?" Clint asked nervously. There had been an attack and he hadn't seen his partner since he left for his mission. "Was she…?"

"Killed in the attack?" Fury responded, he had a fresh bandage around his left eye. Clint didn't know how it got there, and he didn't ask. "Just… follow me."

They both walked to the back of the Helicarrier and down a metal flight of stairs. Fury kept his one eye on the halls ahead of them.

"By the way," his voice was stern and Clint knew he was about to get scolded. "I _do not_ appreciate your decision to keep the Black Widow _alive_."

They walked some more until they reached a door with a keypad on it. Fury entered in the code and scanned his one eye.

"She's in there… recovering?"

"No." Clint was getting worried, he knew his partner had a… _family_ that would be devastated if she ever died.

"Then what the hell is she doing in there?!"

"You'll see."

Fury opened the door, it lead to about fifty people bustling around. Clint could make out people saying 'powers'.

"Did the people that attacked have powers?" Fury didn't respond as they both walked in. Clint dodged a number of people. He looked to the right, he saw glass windows that lead to a small white room. Clint looked at the crowds of people for his partner, he didn't see her.

"I don't see her. Where is she?" Fury nodded to the right, and Clint looked into the white room more closely, he saw strands of black and a tiny bit of pink hair against the white floor. "What's she doing in there?!

"Go ask her yourself." Fury led Clint towards the door that connected to the white room. Fury entered another code and opened the door. He motioned for Clint to step in, and he did.

What shocked him most wasn't the chains, wasn't his partner trapped, wasn't his partner severely injured, but rather, his partner shooting fire out of her hands. Smoke circled around her and she turned to look at Clint.

"Hey, Clint. How was your _mission_?" she was obviously angry at him, given the agitated tone she used.

"It was fine, Ari. How was _your_ day yesterday?" Ari stopped playing with the fireball and sat upright as it dissolved. It was then that Clint noticed how short the chains were.

"Let me think… My _worst_ enemies attacked, my powers got discovered, I was put in here because I'm apparently 'too dangerous'... So what do _you_ think?" she frowned at him and he returned the look. The pink streak in Ari's hair turned to an angry red, Clint didn't question it. He knew she was already overwhelmed.

"How did you know that I was-"

"I can read minds." Ari flashed a smile and the streak turned back to pink.

"What else can you do?" Clint stayed in the doorway and folded his arms.

"A _lot_ of stuff." She waved her hands in an arch shape and her streak changed to a rainbow of colors.

"Wow." Clint didn't believe her.

"Mm-Hm! And my powers were discovered because I was mauled by a bunch of people. I was _already_ pissed so I decided to just fireball them. Answer your question? Or do you need a little more elaboration?" He pressed his lips into a thin line.

She shot a fireball that was extremely close to hitting Clint. He flinched out of habit, he knew that she would never actually hurt him on _purpose_.

" _Best_ way to go out, right? You help the people you're most loyal to, yet they _lock you up_. But hey, that's the real world." Ari slumped against the wall and huffed. She was _not_ happy at all.

"I-"

"You shouldn't be sorry, Clint. It wasn't _your_ fault. If anything, it was mine." Sympathy ignited in her eyes and her face.

Clint believed her sympathy. Ari _always_ took the blame for _everything_ , bad missions, mistakes that _he_ made, even just him getting shot, she blamed herself on the inside and _took_ the blame when Fury was angry with them. She always got the punishment for something she _didn't_ do. Clint never stopped her, but he felt guilt slowly growing inside of him. Clint was confused on what approach to take.

On one hand she didn't trust him enough to tell him that she had powers. They had been good friends outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. He had introduced her to his wife, his house, his _kids_. Sure she was _much_ younger than him… He was thirty-four when she had met him, and she was only fifteen. She had been through some tough things such as abuse, so he somewhat understood why she didn't trust him. But that was _no_ reason for her not to tell her that she had powers. And he could've helped her.

On the other hand, she was a captive of the organization that she was _loyal_ to. And worse: Captured for _helping_ them during an attack that could've killed about half of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was never going to see her family again. They all loved her dearly, and he noticed that they could barely live three days without Ari. He didn't want to tear apart a dynamic such as that one.

Ever since that day, he regretted his decision.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had powers?! Don't you trust me?!" Clint's face was filled with burning hot anger. The echoes were still ringing out through the silent room. He looked at the corner with the mirror in it and saw that his face was turning red.

"I-I-" Ari jumped a little and fear spread across her face.

"What?! You _should've_ trusted me! But here you are! You didn't tell me!"

Ari didn't respond. Instead, she hung her head but she kept her eyes on him. Her eyes ignited with anger, regret, and betrayal. She sniffed and let her hair fall in front of her eyes so Clint didn't have to look at her anymore.

"Nothing!? Not even _eye contact_?! _Fine_." Clint stormed out the door and then immediately realized his mistake.

He wanted to erase it, make it all right, but he couldn't. Ari wouldn't forgive him for this. _Especially_ since he had insulted and betrayed her, the last person that she had trusted in S.H.I.E.L.D. His mind was spinning. He couldn't have told her friends that she died, he never knew if she could get out of there. Clint walked out of the hallway and sat on the stairs. He hit them in anger and buried his face in his hands.

"What did I do? _What did I do_?" he mumbled angrily.

That day was the last time Clint saw Ari smile out of happiness. That was the last day her heart was still there. That was the first day that she slowly began losing her sanity. That was the day that her heart was replaced with iron.


	2. Chapter 1

**Present Day**

Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Vision, James Rhodes, and Thor Odinson stood in front of Nick Fury. The Avengers had received a threat, and none of the workers knew who it was from, so they ran it by Fury. Fury then called the Avengers into a meeting room.

"So… there's a threat?" Tony asked while grabbing a seat and Fury nodded. He was the only person sitting down, and the only one who wasn't all too serious about the threat. "From who?"

"From I.N.D.R.A." Fury replied. The only person that was surprised was Wanda. She clenched her fists and growled under her breath.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"I.N.D.R.A. They are a terrorist group." Wanda answered in her thick Sokovian accent while looking agitated.

"What does that even stand for?"

"Immortal, Natural, Deathless, Relentless, Amaranthine." she recited like it was written on the back of her hand.

"I think they might like immortal things." Tony laughed. "Hey Thor! That means they like you!" Thor rolled his eyes. Everybody- _except_ for Tony-knew that he was not _immortal_. He would live for a long period of time, but he would die-give or take three-thousand years.

"They don't 'like' Immortal people, per say, they like to experiment on them." Fury said sternly

"Oh, forget that I said that!" Everybody studied the message.

"Who's this… 'her'?" Steve asked. He clenched one of his fists, he clearly thought it would be Natasha or Wanda that they were looking for.

"I have an _idea_ , though I'm not exactly sure." Fury walked to the door, "She's in a… _special_ location, you're going to have get going now in order to get to her before she has an 'episode'."Aha, Rogers was wrong. He exhaled with relief.

"I don't see a problem with that." Sam shrugged his shoulders as he answered.

"Me neither." Rhodey agreed. They all filed out of the room and into a jet that Tony built. Wanda sat next to Steve and was handed two files by Fury.

Steve started reading the supposed 'her's file. He had found her powers extremely interesting, to say the least. He noticed that the full power capacity column was a question mark. Wanda looked at the file as well, and she had the same reaction.

"This girl… she seems _real_ powerful." Steve gaped.

"That's because she is." Fury replied tensely. Steve studied the file a little more.

He seemed a little upset at the fact that an _entire_ terrorist group was going after a _twenty-five year old_. And supposedly they were after her for her _entire_ life.

 _ **Ari Phoenix**_

Aliases: _**Siren, Fear**_

Age: _**25**_

Birthday: _**September 7th, 1990**_

Specialty: _**Fighting**_

Nationality: _**American**_

Parentage: _**Parents were murdered**_

Species: _**Human?**_

Known Powers:

 _ **Pyrokinesis, Precognition, Cytokinesis, Telekinesis, Electrokinesis, Hydrokinesis, Magnokinesis, Acoustikinesis, Albopyrokinesis, Biokinesis, Botanokinesis, Celerakinesis, Cosmokinesis, Dermakinesis, Dynamokinesis, Elementumkinesis, Erebokinesis, Essekinesis, Fyrosokinesis, Geo-Thermokinesis, Gerontokinesis, Haemokinesis, Ionikinesis, Lunarkinesis, Mnemokinesis, Mystokinesis, Neurokinesis, Nocikinesis, Oneirokinesis, Osteokinesis, Pathokinesis, Psychokinesis, Quintekinesis, Seismokinesis, Thanatokinesis, and Venokinesis**_

Full Power Capacity: _**?**_

Steve was confused on most of the powers. Wanda sent him the meanings of the powers he was confused on telepathically. The only ones he _wasn't_ confused on were Pyrokinesis, Precognition, Cytokinesis, Telekinesis, Electrokinesis, Hydrokinesis, and Magnokinesis.

' _This is what she can manipulate: Sound, white fire, bodies, plants, speed, cosmic energy, skin, existing energy, the elements, darkness, reality, force-fields, lava, age, blood, plasma, lunar energy, memories, magic, thoughts, nerves, dreams, bones, emotions, every psionic power, life force, seismic blasts, death, and smoke.'_

Steve was shocked, he never knew that someone could have _that_ much power. And what surprised him more: That her full power was unknown. Meaning that _somehow_ she could have more powers.

"How powerful _is_ she?" He asked Fury.

"You're reading the file, you tell me." Fury was _clearly_ agitated.

Steve switched the files, the new one was about the attack from the same organization. He studied it carefully trying to devise their plans. He didn't get anything, and neither did Wanda. He did, however, notice that this was the attack in which Fury lost his eye. _The last time I trusted someone I lost an eye._

"So _that's_ what he meant." He realized under his breath. He trusted this… Ari person? And then I.N.D.R.A. attacked… lost his eye and ability to trust. What could drive him to lose his _entire_ trusting ability? Sure this attack was probably _part_ of it, but it couldn't have been the _whole_ reason… Could it?

The jet landed and Steve tucked the files under his arm as he got out of the jet. He was the last one out and followed everyone into a narrow hallway that led to a white reinforced door. Fury scanned his blind eye and the door opened automatically.

"I feel that she's a lot of trouble…" Tony muttered

"What do you think, Stark? Two reinforced doors, secret location…" Tony shrugged his shoulders.

Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton were already waiting. Natasha was examining her long and sharp nails while looking bored. Clint was just staring at a glass window that led into a small white room, which ultimately led to this… Ari.

"Took you long enough." Natasha exhaled and smiled just a bit. Steve smirked and stifled a laugh.

"If you want to talk to her… I have a few rules." Fury announced.

"Shoot." Rhodey offered.

"Number one: Never interrupt her. _Ever_. No matter what she's saying. And _especially_ if she's singing. A few agents learned the hard way and… let's just say they were _seriously_ injured. Number two: If she goes berserk, run for the door.

"Number three: Agent Paine will be accompanying you at _all_ times while you're in there. Number four: _Always_ listen to Paine, he knows everything about her." There was a faint snort during the last rule. Steve wasn't exactly sure who it came from though. "Also, I wouldn't expect much from her, she hasn't been talking in about a year or so."

"And what's this girl's name?" Thor asked while tossing his hammer, Mjolnir, in the air.

"Ari." Agent Paine said while rubbing the back of his neck. Thor slapped Paine on the back a little too hard and caused him to cough.

"Nice to meet you, man of pain." Everyone hung their heads low and sighed as a sign of apology. Steve looked into the room. It was all white except for a person with black hair was sitting on the bed.

She was wearing a black tank top with a message that he couldn't make out from the distance he was at. For a second he thought it said: 'I am Immortal'. She had on black ripped leggings and black combat boots. There was a dragon earring that coiled around her left ear, a black and white bracelet that looked like feathers, and a three-piece choker that had a sun, a moon, and a star. There was a black sweatshirt hanging off of the white bed, it was practically on the floor, but she didn't care. Her midnight black hair was a tangled wreck, he could barely make out the pink streak on the left side of her head. She was rail thin, she didn't look more than one-hundred pounds. Though she was probably even less, which was a scary thought.

Steve saw that there were scars on her arm. There were lines on her wrist, neck, and-from what little he could see-her face as well. There were also burns and scratches littering her body. Her hands were red and blotchy, burns no doubt. There were small cuts on her hands as well, it was unclear as to where they all came from. One scar ran along her entire arm, and he could tell that it was on the other side of the arm too.

The scars intimidated Steve, he observed that she was tough, considering nobody _normal_ would be able to stand the pain the injuries that cause the scars. He didn't know how many others she had on her thighs and stomach, but he assumed that there were plenty more.

Steve looked around at the others to see that nobody else was studying her. The person that might be crucial, nobody was giving her a glance.

' _What the hell could've happened to her?_ ' he thought.

She didn't look like the most friendly person in the world… Paine entered in a code and they all started their walk in.


	3. Chapter 2

Ari was sitting on her bed and singing softly to herself. It calmed her down and made her feel at home, and besides, what else could she do in that little box they called: her 'asylum'. She was classified as insane two years ago by S.H.I.E.L.D. _only_ because she was going stir crazy. At that point, she hadn't seen the sun for five years, then six, and finally seven.

But it was the room's fault she went crazy. They made it so quiet in there that you could hear your own blood flowing. She stood it for five years, then it got into her mind. It caused so many hallucinations, which nobody understood as to how. But it did, and it made Ari go absolutely crazy. Sometimes she hallucinated her parents, other times she hallucinated her and her boyfriend. One time she hallucinated her and Clint, they made up, she was out of the 'asylum', they were watching a movie. After that, she had her first breakdown. Breakdowns were then a regular occurrence. If she didn't have one around once a week, it was a strange week.

She heard the door open and perked up just a bit. She saw Agent Paine… He was with… a _very_ patriotic man…? A… man with mechanical wings…? A… man who could pass as the man with mechanical wings' older brother? Tony Stark? A woman with Pink Seidr Magic…? A man who could be a model for Hollister…? And a colorful robot…?

The patriotic man and the woman with the seidr magic were wary of her, and Ari felt _extremely_ uneasy, she never liked to be feared. In fact, she _hated_ it. She felt she was already monster enough, she didn't want to be _feared_.

She closed her eyes, hung her head, and figured out all their names in a snap. Steve, Sam, Rhodey, Tony, Wanda, Thor, and Vision.

Finally, the two people she was waiting for came walking in. Natasha and Clint. They weren't in their usual happy attitude, they had an aura of seriousness to them. They were with these people…? Ari realized who these people were… The Avengers.

She was raging on the inside, she couldn't see Clint and Natasha like she usually did. On her birthday. The visits got shorter and shorter over the years. But the first birthday visit from Clint was _the_ shortest. All he did was walk in to toss her a birthday card, and then he left. No words, no apology, he just threw something and walked out. That was when Ari realized that even her own _friend_ saw her as an evil monster.

Ari started to hum something she wrote a while ago. She let all of her anger out into this one five minute song. ' _If you wanted to set me free, why the_ _ **hell**_ _wouldn't you say something? See I was just over eighteen, alone and scared, wanted to be free. Oh no, please don't abandon me, mother, father, I love you so. But this is just me disguised as me, I'm the person who blinded him!_ '

She stopped when Tony Stark started to walk over to her. He had a large grin on his face and she could smell a hint of whiskey on him. She wasn't pleased with him, then again, she was never happy with Tony Stark being famous.

"Hi, Tony Stark." He pointed to himself, "But you probably already know that. Anyways, we got a threa-" Ari started singing something random. Tony was confused and stopped talking.

She took a break and didn't look up. He was too persistent for her taste, she liked people who knew when to stop talking, another reason why she hated Tony Stark.

"From I.N.D.R-" Ari started to sing again. She remembered that Paine was there, and decided to have a little _fun_ with her guests.

" _Why would you leave me here? In this place with imaginary light?_ " She smiled maniacally, nobody knew why, except for Paine.

Paine perked up once he heard Ari singing. He knew that something bad was going to happen if they didn't get out of there, Ari noticed. She knew _just_ how to make him scared… Well, she knew how to make _everyone_ scared. They wanted a monster… And she decided to give them a monster.

"Okay, we need to get out of here. _Now_ ," he told the Avengers. Tony ran near them and furrowed his brow.

"Does she even know we're _here_?" Rhodey asked while looking confused.

"She does! But not in a good way!" Paine motioned for everyone to run to the front door, they all stood their ground. They held their heads high, and Ari didn't like it _one_ bit. Steve and Wanda were a little more cowardly than the others, they both knew what S.H.I.E.L.D. knew she was capable of. Ari made the entrance close and trap all of them. Paine was scared, he never knew she had control over technology.

"We're not scared of you, Ari!" Sam yelled, "You should just give up right here, right now!" Everybody knew she wasn't going to give up.

Ari got up from the bed and stood around four yards away from them. Her hair was still covering her face and her head was still hung low. She smiled crazily again.

"Sam?! Why did you have to say that?!" Paine cried out as he noticed vines slowly coming out from the walls. "You didn't read the files, I take it?!"

"Not a single bit."

"I figured. Considering you don't know how dangerous she is."

"How dangerous can she be?" Rhodey protested.

Dangerous? _Dangerous_? They got dangerous alright. The lights started to flicker and then they started to explode. Ari stretched her arms and the wall behind her set on fire. The Avengers were a bit frightened, but not enough to make them stand down.

"Most people would've backed down by now," She muttered so only she could hear it.

She made the vines crash through the walls and the glass. They wrapped around their feet and waists. Thor dropped his hammer, Steve dropped his shield, Clint dropped his bow. They were lifted up in the air and their limbs were restrained.

"Ari…?" Paine called out, "Could you stop? We get it, you have powers!" Ari shook her head and sent small jolts of electricity through the vines. She felt a giant shock rage through her body, and even though it was about twelve-thousand volts of energy, she still managed to stay standing. Her head twitched and her neck cracked, but that was it. She'd probably have marks on her arm later, but she didn't even show the feeling pain. Nobody knew how used to pain she was.

Wanda had a look of horror and curiosity on her face. Everyone else was struggling to get out. They never realized that the more you struggle with the vines, the stronger they become.

"ARI PHOENIX IF YOU DON'T STOP NOW-" Ari made a vine go over Paine's mouth, working as a gag. She used a seismic blast to knock out both rooms-'asylum' and control room-except for her. She dropped the Avengers and a vision entered her mind.

Ari was in space. No planets, no suns, just black empty space with stars everywhere. She could walk, she could breathe. Then the stars separated into groups. Avengers and what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D. on one side. Then I.N.D.R.A. on the other side. She saw her own star. Then they started to disappear.

She knew what was happening. She… she had to warn them! But they wouldn't believe her… would they? She was friends with Clint and Nat. Plus Steve and Wanda seemed nice. She wasn't really fond of anybody else. The vision ended and she sat on the ground, in the middle of the room. Waiting for them to wake up. She hugged her knees.

Ari knew it would be hard for them to believe her, considering what she just did. But she had to give it a shot, and after all, some of them knew some of her powers. Precognition was on the list, why not believe her? She knew it wasn't going to be long before they woke up. She decided to tell them in the best way she could. She giggled just a little and lied down where she was.


	4. Chapter 3

Steve had a pounding headache and got up off the floor slowly. Everybody else did the same. They saw Ari lying on the ground. Was she knocked out too? No. She was awake. Just lying down. She sat up but her hair was still covering her face.

"Okay, I admit, that was a _bad_ idea." Sam grunted while holding his arm. He most likely had a broken bone considering the size of the seismic blast and the height that he fallen from.

"I can't see your stars." Ari sang in a more talking tone.

"What?/Huh?" everyone said.

"I can't see your stars." She seemed a bit more serious on the response. Paine walked in front of her and waved his hand in her face.

"On earth? Or are you in one of your episodes again?" Ari suddenly lie down and then empty blackness covered all four walls, the ceiling, and the floor. Then little specks of light flickered across the black emptiness.

"Is this normal?" Clint asked in amazement.

"No, I sure as hell wish it was!" Paine responded. Nobody even knew that this was _possible_.

 _You should pay attention. I'm not doing this again._

Everyone heard a voice in their heads say. They all had an idea of who it was: Ari.

 _There's two groups._

A lot of the stars faded away and then the rest of them separated into two groups.

 _On the right is you and what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D. And on the right is I.N.D.R.A._

The I.N.D.R.A. group was _much_ bigger than the S.H.I.E.L.D. group. S.H.I.E.L.D. would've been bigger, if not for the downfall. Everybody stayed silent for half a minute. Nobody knew what Ari was doing.

"Paine!" Thor bellowed all of a sudden.

"Yes?"

"Has Ari ever claimed she knows when people will die?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"She's telling the truth, I'm afraid. The stars tell us when _souls_ die, not exactly when a person dies. When a star disappears, the soul's gone."

 _Here's me!_

A red star popped up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. section.

 _But now it's time for the bad part…_

Stars started disappearing one by one, on _both_ sides. The casualties were not unlike any other mission. But then something strange happened. More and more starting disappearing even faster. Eventually it was just Ari's star left.

Ari waved her hands and all the normal stars appeared, only _many_ of the stars were missing from the lot. Ari's star slowly flickered out. Then everything started going out until eventually it was just empty blackness that they were standing on. Everyone was confused, except for Thor and Ari. Tony's mouth hung open, everyone stayed silent. No one knew how to respond. Finally Thor cleared his throat.

"So… this… I.N.D.R.A. group will come and kill us…" Ari nodded her head. "And then the rest of the world will die." Ari nodded again and her pink streak turned to blue. Everybody's brow furrowed. They didn't know what the streak meant. Paine cleared his throat and managed to stutter:

"The st-streak ch-changes due to emotion."

"That's… _strange_." Rhodey sighed. Steve looked at the door, it was still shut tight.

"Are you going to let us out? Or did you just trap us in here for a party?" Steve said sternly. Either way he wasn't going to be happy with her.

"I'm not going to let you out…" Anger ignited in everyone's faces, " _Yet_." Clint was surprised. Ari talked, she _actually_ talked. "Is it something I said…? I don't think there's anything wrong with talking, now is there?" They shook their heads and she rocked back and forth on the floor.

"Fury told us that-"

"The only reason that I'm talking is because of the threat from I.N.D.R.A. Not because I wanted to. If there was no threat I wouldn't be talking."

"Makes sense." Vision stated. He was trying to get into her mind, as was Wanda.

"You think you can get into my head?" Ari snorted, "Lemme tell you two things. Number one: It's practically _impossible_ to get in my head." Ari rolled her eyes. "Number two: _If_ you _do_ get in my head, it ain't gonna be pretty." Wanda huffed and crossed her arms. Vision simply stopped and looked Ari in the eyes.

"So… what can you tell us?" Sam asked.

"What do you want to know?"

"Aren't you the psychic?" Natasha snorted.

"You're not all too sure on what you want to know yourself." Ari eyed her. Natasha rolled her eyes and hid a laugh.

"You're not wrong." Wanda muttered under her breath.

"And I never really am." Everybody was confused except for Wanda. They let it slide.

"Start from the beginning… the first thing you know about I.N.D.R.A." Clint said.

"They're murderous bastards. First thing I know." Steve clenched his fists while looking a tad bit angry and everybody hid a little smirk.

"How would you… Nevermind." Steve sighed.

"Second thing… they're insane, dangerous, and power hungry. Not a good combination." Clint snorted at her second remark. "Not funny." he stopped laughing. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Rhodey remarked while folding his arms over his chest, "Who's this 'she' person that we heard about in the threat?" Ari blew a few strands out of her face and gave a blank stare. She pinched the bridge of her nose with the tips of her fingers and looked at the floor. She mumbled something they couldn't hear.

"Sorry what?"

"I'm surrounded by idiots." she said louder. "Or I'm surrounded by people who can't problem solve." Everybody was confused, " _I'm_ the person they're looking for." she sighed. Her tone of voice gave away the fact that she was agitated.

"Why are they after you?" Steve asked while stepping forward a little.

"Well, let's count the facts. I'm immortal, number one. Number two: they think I can _grant_ immortality. Number three: I'm extremely powerful. Number four: the leader's son has a little… _infatuation_ with me." Her face contorted with disgust during the last remark, and again, nobody questioned it.

"How powerful…?" Tony asked, a spark of an idea lit up his eyes.

"You didn't read the files, did you?" Tony shook his head rather proudly, "If you read you'll find out." her streak turned to a light red. Steve, Vision, Wanda, Thor, Paine, Clint, and Natasha all took a step back out of fright. Tony looked back at them and then looked back to Ari.

"How long did you speed up the days for?" Thor inquired. Nobody understood what he meant, except for Ari.

"What do you think? When would I.N.D.R.A. _possibly_ attack?" Everybody rolled their eyes and groaned, but they seemed to get the message she was sending. "Is that all?" she huffed.

"It depends… If you'll let us out then yes, _so-called-immortal_." Sam joked. Ari sighed and she opened the door. They all filed out, leaving her in the blank room. They stayed silent as they walked towards an empty room to talk about what just happened.

Ari hugged her knees. Nobody believed her, not even her old partner. She realized her mistake and lie down on her bed. She shouldn't have done the whole 'insane and dangerous' show. Maybe if she didn't do it, they would've believed her. Tears ran down her face and splotched on the white bed. She sang softly so nobody would be able to hear her.

"How do I stay strong? How do I hide it all for so long? How can I take my pain away?" the lyrics brought her back to her childhood, the terrible memories that haunted her since she was just a baby. She looked to the corner where the mirror was. They had moved it to a place where she couldn't reach it after her first breakdown. She smashed it and started harming people. Mainly herself, little did they know that she was only adding to her massive collection of scars on her body.

"This is world war me. I will never find peace. I look into the mirror and I hate what I've become, cause I'm the only casualty for damage that I've done. I'm the only enemy in world war me." Something rushed through her veins, it felt like fire and ice at the same time. She hissed through her teeth and then her mind went blank.


	5. Chapter 4

The Avengers sat down at a table, along with Paine. Fury decided to stand so he could see everybody well enough with his one eye. Other agents were tending to their wounds.

"You got her to talk, _actually_ talk. I'll applaud you on _that_." Fury said with a serious tone. "But I _do not_ appreciate your decision to stand your ground and provoke her. _Many_ agents have been severely injured, you're lucky to get out with just the injuries you have. But that isn't my main focus right now. What I'm curious about is… Do you think that she's the person they're after?"

"Personally, no," Sam said. Vision, Rhodey, Tony, and Paine nodded their heads in agreement.

"You think _she's_ the person they're after?" Tony blurted out, it was directed towards Natasha, Wanda, Clint, Thor, and Steve.

"She's been pursued by _someone_ for some time now, and I've tangled with I.N.D.R.A. a few times. Also given her power level, I think it's safe to say that they're after her." Clint countered.

"I understand Thor, Steve, Wanda, and Natasha believing this. But _you_? Why do _you_ believe this crazy theory?"

"She was his partner… then the attack happened. She was put in there and Fury made him be my partner." Natasha said while tossing her short red hair out of her face.

"You had to deal with all that insanity stuff?" Rhodey asked, baffled.

"No, she got insane by being put in that damn _asylum_ for too long. Not seeing the sun for seven straight years with that power level? Not to mention that you can hear your own _blood_ flowing in the room-which causes multiple hallucinations as well. I think you'd go insane as well."

"Okay… What else do you know about I.N.D.R.A.?" Sam asked.

"They've been after Ari since she was born, they've murdered _countless_ people, and they're ruthless."

"They sound _lovely_."

"I know a little bit about them as well." Wanda contributed. "They come to H.Y.D.R.A. a few times, they asked if they knew anything about an… _Arina_ , I think. Yes, Arina. H.Y.D.R.A. asked them why they were looking for her, I do not remember all the details but I think it was something like: 'She is an immortal, one who cannot _ever_ be killed, unlike the standard ones, which is extremely valuable. And she has a big power capacity.'

"H.Y.D.R.A. agreed to be on the lookout for her if I.N.D.R.A. would let them harness some of her powers. And they become allies. Sorry if it is not the exact details. Pietro would have been able to tell you more." she looked down at the floor and shut her mouth into a thin line.

" _Arina_? Is that even a name?" Tony laughed.

"It's Ari's _real_ name," Clint said, "Did you _really_ think that Ari was her real name?"

"Sort of," Rhodey mumbled.

"I suggest to not call her by that, unless you want your arm broken." Clint leaned back in his chair, Tony put his feet on the table. Nobody seemed concerned about what was going to go down. They bantered back in forth, about if I.N.D.R.A. was after Ari or not. More people were swaying towards that she was the person. Only Rhodey, Paine, and Tony were left to be convinced after about an hour of banter. Soon it was only Tony that needed to be convinced.

"There are _countless_ immortals around! Ever heard of the stream? They're all immortals there! They could be looking for someone there!" Stark argued.

"For as long as I've known Ari, she's been able to survive _countless_ feats that no ordinary person could even survive. I think it's safe to say it's her." Clint argued, Natasha nodded her head in agreement. Banter back and forth went on for another half an hour.

"I still don't-" _CRASH!_

They all furrowed their brows and looked at Fury. Even Fury had the same reaction. They heard footsteps racing up the stairs and into the room they were in. Maria Hill suddenly burst in, panting and trying to find her breath.

"What is it, Hill?" Fury asked, his tone of voice was _almost_ worried.

"I d-don't know how… b-but Ari… She… she has a knife." Everybody's eyes widened.

Tony, Steve, Wanda, Rhodey, Sam, Vision, and Thor were worried about how many people she'd hurt. They knew she had hurt agents before, and could do it again. But they didn't know if she could _actually_ kill someone.

But Natasha, Clint, Paine, and Fury knew the _real_ truth of what she'd do. She wouldn't kill _anybody_. She'd only try to hurt one person, herself. She couldn't be killed by any method that they knew of, but they knew she'd still try to end her life.

"Shit." Fury said. He ran down to where Ari was. Everybody else quickly followed down the steps. The door was left wide open. They rushed in only to find that the windows were covered with metal blinds. They could make out a few blood splatters on the window, but that was the only sign of violence that was there.

"Who's been injured?" Steve asked, his voice was ringing with worry.

"Only Ari." he said looking into the windows.

"How bad…?"

"We don't know."

"Ari stop! You don't know what you're doing!" they heard someone cry.

" _Leave me alone!_ " Ari shrieked. It didn't seem like her normal voice. It was… _deeper_ than it would normally be. Almost as if… it was two voices combined… a male's and a female's…

"Stop! You're going to-" there was a sound of bone cracking, and then a loud _thud_. Everybody was dead silent. Nobody moved, they were all listening for a sign of life. Had Ari killed herself and the man in there?

"What's going on in there?!" Fury demanded into a speaker.

"S-sir. She… I…" they heard the man's voice say.

"What. _Happened_? Vance, tell me now or I'll have your head."

"She stabbed herself… in… in the… she brought the knife… d-down on her skull. B-but she's still breathing."

" _Get off of me!_ " Ari yelled.

"Do you want me to help you or not?"

" _Get out of here!"_ Someone ran in to retrieve the knife. They quickly ran out and handed the bloody object to Fury. He soundproofed the room and sighed.

"Nothing to see here," he said calmly. "Practically like any other time," he stuffed his hands in his pockets and almost walked out.

"You're saying these are _normal_ occurrences?" Thor inquired angrily.

"Yes, they are. Normally Ari finds something… let's say… _creative_ to use. Normally she picks up her bed or breaks something, occasionally she uses a pen if it's available. But this time, she had a knife. I don't know how, I don't care. It's not my priority right now."

"Right. Why would the person a terrorist group is after be _any_ priority after she slammed a knife into her _skull_ and is still managing to breathe?" Wanda sassed as she folded her arms across her chest and rolled her dark brown eyes.

"She makes a fair point, Fury." Rhodey agreed. Everyone else nodded their heads, Ari was their main priority at the moment.

"S-Sir?" they heard Vance call through the walkie talkie Fury was holding

"What?"

"She's saying something… I don't understand what she's talking about. Should I forward-"  
"Yes, you should." They heard some fumbling around and then a faint

"Repeat what you just said." coming from Vance.

" _Dear Avengers,"_ the voice was raspy and dark. It almost sounded demonic… " _You have what is mine, I suggest you bring her back to me in the time limit I've given, or else I'll make her kill_ everyone _in here. Is this clear? Because my organization and I are NOT the most merciful people. You have nine days if you want to survive. We'll make sure-"_ Static clouded the rest of the message.

"Sure of what?!" Fury demanded back. More static. Fury kept trying for about half a minute. Vance suddenly appeared next to Fury. Vance jumped and looked at his surroundings, then sighed in relief.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Natasha inquired judgmentally. Vance realized something and went to the control panel. He restored the audio and opened the blinds. They rose up revealing that Ari was struggling to pull her chains out of the wall. But she was standing on the wall… _strange_.

"Sir, she's-"

"Why was there static?" Vance pointed to the room again, and Fury looked closer. The walkie talkie was floating. Then blood started to flow around Ari. It was a lighter shade of red, then Fury realized.

Ari was trapped underwater. Bubbles came out of her mouth as she cried for help. Her long hair floated around her and in front of her face.

"She's an immortal, apparently. She can hold her breath."

"What if she can't? Then they'd get _real_ pissed off, wouldn't they?!" Vance said while trying to find a way to drain all the water.

"Do you need my help?" Tony asked, and he nodded. Tony shoved him aside and started entering a code.

 _Access Denied_. Flashed red words all over the computer screens. They all went black and then powered up to only show one message. _I.N.D.R.A._

They heard slight slamming on the glass. Ari was trying to smash it, bubbles flew out of her mouth and her lips were starting to turn blue. She was losing oxygen quickly. Lights were starting to flicker in morse code. Signing: _Help Me_.

There wasn't anything they could do, and that made Clint sick to his stomach. People at the window Ari was slamming on were panicking and took a few steps back, from what Clint could see.

Tony _finally_ was able to drain all the water. It sucked out quickly and made Ari slam onto the ground. She was coughing up water and struggling to regain her breath. Her long hair hung in wet strings along the floor and over her face. After a moment of hacking and coughing, Ari stuttered,

"I-It was I.N.D.R.A. I-I don't know how b-but I know it was them." tears ran down her face as she throbbed in pain from the wounds 'she' gave herself. She quickly composed herself and took a few shaky breaths.

"Alright, what the hell just happened?" Steve demanded.

"Mind control." Ari coughed while struggling to get to her feet. "I.N.D.R.A.'s going to do whatever they have to in order to make sure I'm what they think I am." She managed to hoist herself onto her white bed and lay down on her back.

"And what _do_ they think you are?" Fury grilled.

"An immortal who can grant immortality. I thought I already told you this."

"I didn't believe you until now." Ari rolled her eyes and groaned at his remark.

"By now I think you should realize that it's about a one-hundred percent chance that I'm right when it comes to I.N.D.R.A."

Ari looked down at her arms. A few minor cuts that were bleeding onto the bed, staining the sheets a crimson color. Some other ones were major, one right down her arm, but Ari didn't care. She noticed that her arms had more scars on them than normal.

She closed her eyes and the stray scars disappeared, even though she still had them. Just nobody was able to see them, she made sure of that. Ari didn't want a single soul to know what she _truly_ went through, much less someone _actually_ having to go through it.

Ari heard all of them whispering among themselves. She sat up and sighed while hugging her knees.

"This is going to be terrible." she muttered. A few workers walked in with bandages to clean up her wounds. She waved them off, and they stayed. Her pink streak immediately turned to a dark crimson, and her blue and onyx heterochromatic eyes changed to the same color. They saw this and quickly scrambled out of the 'asylum'.

Blood smeared onto Ari's leggings and onto the parts of her thighs that were exposed. There were a few new tears in her leggings, but they looked like they were supposed to be there anyways. Ari looked at her tank top, it was torn up and soaked in blood. She was angry about that, though. She loved the top. It said: 'I am invincible,' along with a paragraph about her qualities. And she wore it often so people might get the fact that she was invincible. But nobody believed her, until then.


	6. Chapter 5

One day passed, and the Avengers decided to not ask Ari any questions. They were in the same discussion room as before. Everybody had a few questions for Ari, but were too scared to ask.

Wanda bit her lip. She didn't want to risk something like what had happened the day before. If she did go question Ari… what could happen? Ari could _kill_ her if she still had a weapon. Though, it wouldn't be _that_ bad, considering she'd be with her twin brother again. She tapped on her thigh as she argued with herself over and over again. A person walked in, someone that she didn't recognize. In fact, _nobody_ knew who it was.

"Sir, I need you to come with me." he said to Fury.

"Not until you tell me who you are." The mysterious man pulled out a gun and fired at Fury. It hit him in the chest. Fury hunched over in pain and Steve ran to restrain the stranger.

"Who. Are. You?" Steve growled. Natasha was helping up Fury and hauling him off to get medical treatment.

"We've been sent to retrieve the immortal. Give her to us if you don't want anybody to die."

" _We…?_ " Steve felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, he was stabbed. Sam pulled out the knife and knocked out the man who stabbed him. Steve put pressure on the wound.

"What the hell." Tony gaped. "Why would they want to…" Tony realized what they were there for. They were there for Ari. More men stormed the room, they were holding everybody at gunpoint. Wanda slowly moved her hands, and then blasted them all out of the room. Some even went through the wall. She smirked and started walking out. Everybody was staring.

"You are coming, no?" she went to attack more people, and everyone else followed. She waved her hands, and more people flew back. Some even went through the window. Steve threw his shield at a random man and punched another guy. Tony and Rhodey went to go get their suits on.

Ari, waiting nervously in her cell, spotted a figure sprinting down the hallway. As it neared her she identified it as a wolf, but something about it wasn't _quite_ right. It seemed strangely familiar… It appeared to be morphing into a human. The person stopped at Ari's cell. Ari immediately remembered this person. She recognized her shaggy brown hair, gray-emerald eyes, and a faint scar over her left eye. Ari ran as close to the door of her cell as she could.

"Cassidy Storm, what are you doing here?! It's not safe! I've already had enough-" Ari exclaimed.

"Hurry up, Phoenix! Let's get out of here! _Hurry_!" Cassie interrupted, motioning her forward.

"I-I can't…"

"What do you mean? 'You can't'?! You can do _anything_ for Christ's Sake!" Cassie walked in farther and flipped her hair out of her face.

"B-But a lot of it's blocked. I'm not going to break my mental blocks _just_ to get out of here!" Cassie groaned and shot ice bullets at Ari's chains. They didn't break.

"Damn, they _really_ made those strong."

"Yeah, maybe if I…" Ari concentrated and then her hands slipped right out of the chains. "That works!"

"Dude, you got some _long-ass_ hair. Want me to cut it?"

"To be honest… I don't trust you with my hair. I'll cut it on my own." Cassie stared at her own shaggy, uneven brown hair, and laughed. The both of them walked out of the little asylum.

"No wonder you went insane. I'm already hallucinating crap. How did you stand this for… however long?"

"I didn't stand it." Ari was careful to step over the unconscious people. "Why do you think I was in there for so long? If I got out the first thing I would've done would break you out, by the way."

"Um-"

"Psychic, remember?"

"I never can remember what you can do." Cassie smiled and walked up the stairs.

"Stop right there! Put your hands where I can see them!" An I.N.D.R.A. agent was at the top of the stairs, pointing a gun at both of them.

" _Haha_ , no." Cassie replied and flung a block of ice at the guy, knocking him unconscious. "That was _too_ easy," she exhaled.

"You're used to _me_ , everything is easy."

"Fair enough."

"Plus these guys are dead beats anyways. I bet _he_ trained them!" Cassie snorted at Ari's comment. They both knew who she was talking about. They entered the main hall where pink magic threw four men right next to them.

"Where do you two think you're going?" they heard someone shout. They both turned around to see Steve glaring at Ari.

"Getting _her_ out of here!" Cassie snarled. "She's been in here for _seven years_. Without sunlight! She needs some _proper_ care. Something _you_ can't give her." her eyes started to turn icy blue and her teeth turned into fangs. Her ears became furry and pointed, and her hands were quickly replaced with paws and razor-sharp claws.

In her place stood a massive wolf, standing five feet at the shoulders. In a lightning-fast bound she sprang at Steve. He tried to block her with his shield, but failed. Instead, he went barrelling down the hallway. He slammed into the wall and sat motionless for a few seconds. After a moment he got up and ran for backup. Meanwhile, Wanda was attempting to use telepathy on the wolf, but for some reason it was not working. Cassie charged her, seemingly unaffected by her failed attempt at mind control.

Ari smirked at Wanda though Wanda didn't know why the attack wasn't working on Cassie.

"Hey, Wanda, you're not going to get into her head while _I'm_ around, I hope you know." Ari taunted.

"Two can play this game…" Wanda growled. She aimed her psychic attacks at Ari, who was too busy fighting off I.N.D.R.A. workers to deflect it. Both of them went down with pain ripping through their minds.

Suddenly, Cassie-wolf heard a blast, something pricked her shoulder, and a cold substance rushed through her veins. A tranquilizer, _must_ have been Stark. Her world faded to black as she fell to the floor and slowly morphed back into a human.

Ari wanted to help Cassie, but the pain from Wanda's attack was too much for her. She could hear the screams, feel the wounds, see the death in all of her worst memories. She cried out in pain and pulled at her hair. She fought off Wanda's invasion until the memories, pain, and screams faded into nothing. She gasped for breath and was on the brink of tears. Someone tried to grab her from behind, but she quickly kicked them and sent them falling to the floor. She grabbed the knife from him and grabbed Cassie's arm. Ari dragged her to a corner where she was _sure_ nobody would find her.

"And what are you doing?" Ari turned her head to see Clint leaning in a doorway while tossing his knife in the air. "Your friend seems… _nice_." He nodded towards the unconscious Cassie.

"She's a better friend than _you_ were, I can tell you that." Ari hissed.

"Why is that?" Clint stalled.

"She was my friend while I was a captor of I.N.D.R.A., helped me cope with my sister's death. Helped me through the endless hours of training and beatings. She helped me _escape_ I.N.D.R.A. captivity, getting caught while I ran away from it all, she tried to get me _out of here_.

"And what did _you_ do? You yelled at me, never stopped me when I took the blame for something that was _your_ fault, _left me to rot_ in that goddamn asylum for seven years, and you haven't done _anything_ that would relate to me getting out of here. So, I'm sorry I consider _her_ a better friend than _you_."

"You're forgetting that I introduced you to my family, took you under my wing."

"And what good did _that_ do me? Because meeting your family made me _better_ at fighting somehow! And if you didn't notice, I was _well_ trained before I became a S.H.I.E.L.D. lackey. I didn't need _you_ to teach me how to fight." Clint looked down to the floor and shook his head.

"I'm sorry for saving _your_ life." he retaliated.

"I would've lived anyways… and… How many times have I saved your life, again?" Ari rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and stood in front of Cassie.

"And you aren't grateful for what I've done."

"What _have_ you done that's benefited me somehow?" Clint thought for a moment, trying to come up with something. "Exactly. And here I've been taking _bullets_ for you, falling out of a _plane_ for you!" Anger rose up her throat, and she muttered, "I should've stayed a captive I.N.D.R.A. where I belong."

"Where you _belong_?" Clint was baffled at what she said. She didn't _belong_ in I.N.D.R.A. captivity… Well… Did she?

"Nobody even cares what I do, Clint! It's not going to matter if I go to I.N.D.R.A.! Nobody here needs me _or_ wants me, so what's the point in staying?! What do you think I'm even doing?!"

Ari felt a pain go through her head, then she went blank. It was happening again. The mind control. She tried to fight it, but after the incident with Wanda, she was too weak.

" _Clint_." A raspy and demonic voice that wasn't hers came out of her mouth. " _I see you've been having a tough time with her, we'll take her off your hands if you want._ "

"Why do you want Ari? Power, research, immortality?"

" _She's mine! That's why! It's time you realize it too! She's been mine and always will be mine!_ "

"Ari's a person, not a _thing_."

" _She never goes outside, you might as well_ -SHUT UP!" Clint didn't say a word, he was too frightened to. Ari grabbed a gun and aimed it at her head.

"Ari… what are you-"

"You still want me, don't you? If I shoot myself you wouldn't have me! Now would you?!" Talking to the person in her head. She dropped the gun and felt a pang in her arm. Clint shot a fast-acting-tranquilizer-arrow at her.

"I hate you," she growled before falling to the floor next to Cassie. Clint smirked, but deep down he knew that she really meant it.


	7. Chapter 6

Ari awoke to the sound of muttering and quiet whispers. She slowly woke from her tranquilizer-induced sleep, blinking her eyes a few times. She looked around and saw herself back in her asylum. _Of all places to wake up in, why this?_ She thought. Ari slammed down on her bed so hard that it almost broke.

"You might want to calm down." Fury said over the loudspeaker. Ari turned her head and her streak turned to a dark-almost crimson-red.

"Why did you stop me?" she asked hoarsely.

"Believe it or not, Phoenix. We need you… _here_."

"So my power won't fall into the wrong hands. So I won't go berserk and kill everybody. _Just in case_ you need a power source to blow something up. You need my _powers_ , not _me_." Anger was radiating off of her.

"All is true… You have a visitor, by the way."

"I don't want to see Clint." Ari turned away and faced the one wall that wasn't a window.

"It's not Clint." Fury walked away and the doors to her cell opened.

"What do you want?" Ari didn't look at her visitor.

"I… I wanted to ask you some… some questions." the thick Sokovian accent… Wanda. Ari sighed and turned towards her.

"Go for it. You're one of the few that I'm not angry with…"

"Even after-"

"Yep. It had the same affect on you, so we're even."

"That was actually what I wanted to talk about…" Wanda said while sitting down on the bed. Ari sat next to her and exhaled.

"Some answers are classified, but ask away."

"I need to know what the heck that was, first off."

"My mind's pretty messed up, as you can tell. Many of the memories you saw were just my families dying. You did see a few memories from my trial and jail time though."

"Jail time?"

"Yeah… I-I was accused of murder… at six and a half. I stayed in prison till I was seven."

"Why would-"

"I was the only reasonable suspect for my parents murders. It _couldn't_ have been my sister because 'she didn't look like a murderer'!" Ari threw her hands up and lie down on the bed.

"Wow… That's… I always forget this word…"

"Quick to judge? Judgementful? _Stupid_?"

"That's it." Wanda laughed.

"So… yeah. I'll be honest… that was only seven years of my twenty-five."

"Care to tell me more?"

"I guess… if you promise not to tell anybody. I already get enough dirty looks as it is."

Ari poured a lot of memories and feelings, even minimized the scar cloaking by a little, but it revealed a _lot_ more scars than everybody else saw all the time. Right then, Wanda was the only person she could trust. Possibly Natasha, but who knows, she could lie so easily you couldn't even tell.

"I was wondering…" Wanda said nervously, "Wait… it's not my place to ask."

"No, no, you can ask." Ari smiled weakly. It was the first time she had smiled out of happiness in ages… Seven years… She hadn't smiled out of happiness for _seven years_ until that moment. Smiled out of insanity, sure, she had done that just the day before. But this was a true, genuine smile.

"Can you bring people back from the dead…?"

"It's easy if I have the body near me, but if they aren't… well… it takes too much energy. I would be able to do it better if I was out of here, though." Ari laughed a little.

"Oh, okay. So it's a possibility?"

"It is a possibility that I can bring your brother back, but it would be better if I was out of here."

"How did-" Ari tapped her head.

"You aren't the only one that's psychic."

"Right." Wanda laughed.

Wanda got up from the bed, walked out of the cell and almost ran into Steve, who had a stern expression. His arms were folded, she tried to walk past, but he blocked her everytime she attempted to get past.

"What do you think you were doing?" he scolded.

"I-I was talking to her…"

"And you endangered yourself and possibly this entire facility."

"Is that because of what she's done? May I remind you that the room made her go crazy, the breakdowns are all I.N.D.R.A. controlling her, and she's not dangerous?"

"She _is_ dangerous."

"No she's not. She _has_ control. If she wanted to kill us she would've done it already."

"First time we met her ring a bell?" Wanda bit her lip. She didn't have an excuse this time. Why _did_ Ari try to kill them then? Was it out of anger? Spite? Hatred? _Fear_? Or did I.N.D.R.A. make her do that too?

"My point exactly." Steve gripped Wanda's wrist and tugged her out of the room. He stopped in an empty hallway and looked her straight in the eyes. "I know how much Pietro's death-"

"It's not just about him! Do you think Ari deserves to be in there?"

"She's insane."

" _I_ started to hallucinate in there, the room is doing that to her."

"I don't care, she's insane and dangerous, and _you_ need to stay away from her."

"I am able to take care of myself, _Captain_." Wanda jerked her hand away and stormed off. Steve _knew_ she was angry, she only called someone by their code names if she was angry.

Steve walked to the room where Ari's _friend_ was being held. He sat down in a chair as Cassie blew a stray strand of hair away from her face.

"Well well well, we have here. What are you going to do, rant about freedom, voting and taxes until I break?" Cassie deadpanned in what Steve recognized as a British accent. Steve stared at Cassie angrily and she laughed. "Awww, did I get on the Bald Eagle's bad side?" She snickered. He hit the table and she shut up.

"You think this is a _game_? You _and_ Ari are in some serious trouble."

"What? For huwting youw feewings?" Cassie sneered, "Oh, I know, I'm in _so much_ trouble for being forced into a terrorist organization when I was about six and then trying to break my friend out of here. _So_ sorry."

"You know, you're starting to remind me of a psychotic killer maniac who tried to take over the planet once," Steve replied.

"Ah, thanks for the idea, and that actually sounds like a guy I could talk to," Cassie laughed. Steve scowled at her, he wasn't in the mood for funny business. He was already starting to dislike this… teen? Adult? Prisoner? He couldn't think of a word.

"This document here says some quite interesting things about you, Cassidy Storm. Care to explain?" Steve asked, showing Cassie her I.N.D.R.A. file. The file read:

 _ **Cassidy Storm**_

Aliases: _**Alpha, Wildfire, Storm**_

Age: _**Unknown, although appears to be 17-18**_

Birthday: _**Unknown**_

Specialty: _**Fighting, Illusions, Mischief and Trickery**_

Nationality: _**Unknown, but accent resembles that of British**_

Parentage: _**Unknown**_

Species: _**Unknown, energy readings are similar to that of other-dimensional objects**_

Known Powers:

 _ **Shapeshifting, Illusions/lies, Sarcasm, Inhuman strength, Inhuman speed, Pyrokinesis, Aquakinesis, Fyrosokinesis, Electrokinesis**_

Full Power Capacity: _**Unknown**_

"Really? Sarcasm and lies? That's an actual superpower?" Steve asked.

"Don't ask," Cassie replied.

"From Britain?" Steve asked while tossing the file onto the table. Cassie gave him her 'are-you-serious?' look.

"It's not a British accent, everybody's so stupid!" She screeched and then calmed down. "I'm not exactly sure what the accent is myself, but I can tell you it is _not_ British."

"Do you know where your parents are from?"

"Never met 'em. Mom probably died somehow, but for some reason I think my dad's still alive. I feel like sometimes I can hear his voice in my mind. Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but it's true."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Steve replied, "Dads are like that, they just leave and don't care about anyone."

"Don't feel sorry for me, my dad's probably a jerk anyways, otherwise he wouldn't have left me. I don't really care anyways. Why am I in trouble again?" Cassie wondered, "Actually, I don't care, because why the heck did you people take my iPod?! I had _the best_ songs on that thing. I hate you all."

"The matter at hand is more important than your… iPod."

"No it's not. Stupid S.H.I.E.L.D. and all their fu-"

" _Language!_ "

"Oh, shut up." Steve mumbled something that she couldn't hear, but it sounded like he was reprimanding her.

"Anyways… I can understand that it's their fault, but that doesn't get you out of trouble."

"Even though I honestly don't give a crap, why am I in trouble? I was doing this for the greater good."

"The greater good?"

"Yeah, you see… She's… never mind." Cassie shook her head, getting rid of the thoughts she was having.

"You can tell me, this isn't being recorded and I'll keep this to myself."

"If _anyone_ should tell you this, it should be Ari."

"Yeah, well me and her are not on the best terms." He sighed.

"None of you are."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaanyways… How about you? Is there any reason _you_ wanted to get her out? Besides being her friend."

"Uh… I don't really… uh…"

"Traumatic?" Cassie nodded her head. "Same with Ari, apparently." Clint walked in and leaned in the doorway.

"Believe me, she and her sister went through more stuff than me. Even though I was there longer."

"She had a sister?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, a twin, but they didn't look _anything_ alike. But anyways, her name was Systra, but she went by her middle name, Jillian. I.N.D.R.A. killed her during an escape attempt."

"You think you know a girl…" Clint laughed.

"Why _would_ she talk about her?" Steve retorted to him. Clint sat down next to Steve and looked Cassie in the eye.

"Anything else you'd like to tell us?"

"The leader is a psychotic asshole who's in love with Ari and won't stop until he gets to her."

"Like the whole… 'if-I-can't-have-her-nobody-can' thing?"

"Pretty much." Clint pinched the bridge of his nose while Steve was simply shocked. "But it's not the first person like that either." Clint immediately shot up.

" _What_?!" Cassie covered her mouth and mumbled something to herself.

"You didn't know?" She soon asked.

"Well, I've never really gotten much out of Ari."

"I'm confused." Steve said sheepishly.

"Well I won't say then."

"She never told me that…" Clint uttered.

"Honestly? Why would she? The whole parents thing was bad enough! And then the school… and all that." Cassie hit herself in the head. "I'm giving up way too much."

"Thanks for your… _help_." Steve said, he and Clint both walked out of the room. Steve turned to Clint and looked him in the eye. "You alright? It seemed like you wanted to kill something. Which isn't far from your normal state…"

"She never told me about that. Any of it."

"Some things are better kept to yourself." Steve consoled as he walked off, probably to go report to Tony what he found out. Clint decided to go to the S.H.I.E.L.D. files and search up Ari. It was the first time he actually was concerned to look into them, he only wanted to do it if Ari was in real trouble or he needed to know something. He convinced himself that this was the time to use it.

 _ **Ari Phoenix**_

Age: _**25**_

Birthday: _**September 7th, 1990**_

Nationality: _**American**_

Parentage: _**Rowena Marie Olvera-Phoenix and Vane George Phoenix, both deceased**_

Siblings: _**Systra Jillian Phoenix, status unknown. Ari claims her to be dead, most likely lying.**_

Occupation: _**Singer, songwriter**_

School(s): _**Harishire Elementary, School for Mentally Disabled, Mentally Disturbed, and Physically Disabled Children. Both in New York City**_

Crimes (if any): _**Accused of 140 murders, charges were dropped due to insignificant evidence**_

Jail Time (if any): _**6 Months out of her 5 Lifetimes to which she was falsely accused of**_

Other notes: _**Multiple attempts at dying, was bullied and abused, went missing for a year, classified as insane by S.H.I.E.L.D., been in S.H.I.E.L.D. captivity for 7 years.**_

Clint shuddered, she had been through so much, but she barely told him anything. She hadn't trusted him. He remembered something she said.

" _Listen, Clint, there are some things that I can barely write down, much less say verbally. So don't be offended if I don't tell you something, I know you will be at some point. I'm trying to look out for you, we're friends, and I don't want that to change._

" _Just… Again, there are things that I haven't told you and probably will never tell you. Not because I don't trust you, but because it's hard to admit when you're perceived as such a strong and bulletproof person. Please understand that."_

So _that's_ what she meant, it was a month before her powers were discovered. Did she know that was going to happen? Or did she sense that he was angry? Either way, it was fishy. He contemplated asking her himself, but then decided not to. Ari was angry as it was, he didn't need to anger her more.

He was afraid that anybody else would go in there, or have already been. Clint knew that at least _one_ person would try and go in and talk to her. And God have mercy on their soul if they did.


	8. Chapter 7

Natasha walked down to talk with Ari only to find that she wasn't there. _The training room,_ she thought. She walked there, and saw Ari standing over three new recruits. She brushed her hands on her scarred legs and waved her finger at them.

"Maybe you should think twice before challenging me."

"How were we supposed to know that you are Ari Phoenix?!" One of them said

"The hair and the chains should've given it away, sweetie." Natasha looked at Ari's wrists, and sure enough, there were chains. At least she had more room. The new recruits walked out, beaten. Their faces paled at the sight of the famed Black Widow. They avoided eye contact and swiftly went out the door. Natasha laughed and walked into the training room. Ari eyed her and smirked.

"What? You wanna challenge me or something?"

"Sure, why not?" Ari motioned for Natasha to come closer, and she did. Ari grabbed her hand and flipped her onto her back. Natasha groaned and Ari laughed.

"Seems like I'm not the only one that's rusty, eh?" Natasha kicked Ari's feet out from under her, she fell straight to the floor.

"I guess so. How long has it been since you've fought?"

"Thirty seconds…"

"Ha ha." Natasha said dryly as she rolled her hazel-blue eyes. "But seriously."

"I'd say it's been six years since I fought _like this_."

"Fair point." They both got back up and into their fighting stances.

Ari ducked as Natasha tried to swing a punch to her jaw. She kicked her in the stomach as a retaliation. Natasha flew back when the kick hit her, but she didn't fall. Ari noticed that they had some spectators. Clint, Fury, Tony, Rhodey, and Thor. She jumped and kicked Natasha in the face, and then the neck. Natasha sprung back up and kneed Ari in the chest. She went for another hit, but Ari dodged and grabbed her arm. Ari pushed Natasha's wrist in between her shoulder blades. Natasha gritted her teeth in pain. Then Ari did something nobody had _ever_ seen before.

Ari ran back in front of Natasha and started to do an aerial cartwheel. But she swung her left leg around Natasha's neck, sending her flying into the wall. Ari landed and bowed.

"And that, everybody, is how you beat the Black Widow." She swung her arms around. "Nat, thanks for the warm up."

" _Warm up_? Are you _sure_ that was a _warm up_?!" Tony sputtered.

"I'm positive, Stark. Anybody else wanna go a round?" Everybody who could hear the request, looked away and muttered some sort of an excuse to not fight her, Thor was contemplating. Ari yawned.

"Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaame!" She exclaimed while stretching her legs. She brought her left leg all the way up, it resembled a third arm, almost. The spectators shuddered at the sight.

"Doesn't that hurt?!" Clint asked, he had seen her do it before, but he still found it gross.

"No, why would it?"

"Maybe because it's unnatural?" Tony retorted.

"I've been unnatural since the day I was born."

"Oh really? Why is that?"

"I was born with this hair. Black hair, pink streak."

"Maybe she's born with it." Clint muttered.

"Maybe it's Maybelline." Rhodey finished the jingle. Snickers could be found from everybody who understood the reference.

" _Expert_ comedy right there." Ari spat. She helped Natasha up and Natasha walked out of the training room without a single injury. "Before you ask… I healed all of the injuries."

"How do you _do_ these things?" Tony asked impatiently.

"Trade secret." She scoffed.

"You seem like a mighty warrior!" Thor bellowed, "I would like to test your might in battle!"

"Thor, that's not a good-"

"Hold your tongue, archer!" He interrupted, "I shall challenge her!" Everybody pinched the bridge of their nose. They knew that Ari was going to win, and badly hurt Thor in the process.

"Okay, c'mon in, then." He proudly strode in and dropped his hammer on the floor. "You can use your hammer, I hope you know that."

"It seems only fair, since you have no weapons."

"I don't need weapons when I have my muscle." She flexed as a joke. "Anyways, you choose. Use or don't use Mjolnir, I don't care either way."

"Aye, then." Thor grabbed his hammer and threw it at Ari. She dodged easily. Mjolnir hit the wall, then aimed for her again. It flew towards her, and she quickly backflipped over it. Thor caught it and sighed.

"Alas, I bet this will take long."

"Not while I'm here."

He dropped Mjolnir and charged for her. She grabbed his arm, which stopped him dead in his tracks. He tried to punch with his other arm, she ducked and kneed his stomach. Thor let out an _oof_ and _almost_ went down, _almost_. Ari's grip loosened and he punched her in the face. He heard the bones crack under his knuckles. His fist was covered in blood, her face was covered in blood.

Ari spit out blood onto the floor. She charged towards him and pinned him to the ground. Thor pushed her off and she landed on her feet. Ari saw Thor's eyes light up with a new idea. He held out his hand. _Mjolnir_ , she thought. She was right.

Mjolnir shot through the air and straight into his hand. He aimed for her head, but she blocked it with her arm, which left Thor completely blank-faced. Well, _everybody_ completely blank-faced. She grabbed his shoulder, flipped over him, and landed two inches away from his heels. Ari swung her right leg around his neck and flipped over him, taking him with her. He landed on his back and hit his head head on the mat. She put her right foot on his ribs.

"I win." Ari hissed.

"I see that." He wheezed. She took her foot off of him and helped him up. "You are a great opponent. The warriors of Asgard would be grateful if you could train them." Ari blushed and smiled. He looked into her mismatched eyes.

"If I get out of here I'll _consider_ it." Punching bags began to fall and she began taking them out one by one. Thor walked back to the group.

"You're crazy." Rhodey remarked.

"How do you _not_ have a broken bone? When I sparred with her I used my bow and arrows, yet at the _least_ I came out with a broken hand!" Clint exclaimed furiously.

"I suppose she wasn't angry with me."

"I've been meaning to ask…" Tony trailed on while turning on his heel towards Fury. "Where did her scars come from?"

"Well… If you looked in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database you'd know where a _small fraction_ came from. We don't know about the rest. We've asked, but she won't tell. Though, I've noticed that _many_ new scars have appeared over the past few years. Strange, if I do say so myself." Fury responded.

"She hides a lot of scars." A voice said behind them. All of them jumped and found Wanda leaning in the doorway.

"What?" Wanda sat in a chair and crossed her arms and legs.

"You know illusion magic, right?" Everybody nodded slightly, "Ari uses that to cover up all of her scars. And since you have anti-power chains and walls, her magic starts to waiver. In another three years you'll see _all_ of her scars."

"Do you know where she got them?"

"Vaguely. It has to do with I.N.D.R.A., that's all I know."

"Well, good thing we'll see I.N.D.R.A. in a week. Maybe we can get some answers." Steve said almost protectively.

"That's not a good thing, you know!" Ari answered while kicking a punching bag, sending it flying across the room.

"You… You heard all of that?" Steve was baffled.

"I'm psychic! Of course I can!"

"Aren't those…" Natasha trailed off.

"Yes. Doesn't mean I still can't use _some_ powers."

"You've crossed the line from weird to creepy." Clint muttered.

"I crossed that line a _long_ time ago." Ari punched again, another one broke off.

"Could you go _any_ faster?" Fury sighed.

"I can… But that would be cheating."

"Aren't you _always_ cheating with that strength?" Clint snickered.

"No, this is my natural strength." Everybody gaped for a second. She wasn't _really_ that strong, was she?

"That _totally_ isn't scary."

"What?! It's not like I can break the glass!" Ari looked offended. Then Clint remembered, she hated to be feared.

"Try." Tony smirked. Ari walked over to the glass and raised her fist. Her fist flew through the air and hit the glass.

It shattered instantly.

Everybody was in shock. Including Ari.

"I guess I-I can break the glass." Fury was becoming angrier. "Do you want me to repair it? I can-"

"Yes." Ari closed her eyes and then the shards of glass became whole again. Fury walked out, he didn't want to look at her. He huffed and stormed off to his office, leaving the Avengers confused. They followed, Ari was left in the training room, alone.

"What was that about?" Sam inquired when they were all in the same room as Fury.

"I… I don't know how to explain it." Fury sighed.

"Just say it."

"I'm still angry with her." He blurted out.

"Angry about what?" Rhodey asked.

"Seven years ago, I.N.D.R.A. attacked. I was taken hostage, along with Maria. Ari came in to rescue us. They said if she saved us, she would die, and if she didn't, we would die. I told her… I told her to run, she didn't. She came charging at a few people, killing them, but they shot her in the head.

"It was easily the worst five minutes of my life. They stabbed my eye, knocked Hill out, and left us. She played dead for a while. Even went as far as to stop breathing and stopping her heartbeat. She _really_ scared the hell out of me. Then after she was sure they were gone, she got up and went to go fight.

"She tossed me a bandage, told me to stay behind, and then more people swarmed. Then fire shot out of her hands. They went down with ease. Scared me even more. She used multiple powers, everybody was stunned."

"So… tell me why this is leading to you being mad, because I don't see a problem with this." Wanda spoke out.

"It's… We could've had much less casualties on our side if we had known that she was being chased by I.N.D.R.A."

"No, I don't remember you telling me that." A sly grin spread across Clint's face as he said it, "You told me it's because she didn't tell you that she could do cool shit, then you got mad because you trusted her. Even went so far as to sign court papers so you could become her legal guardian, but hey, your motives could've changed. They always do."

"Barton, I've had it up to here with you." Fury snarled in response.

"Legal guardian, what about her parents?" Asked Rhodey.

"Dead." Clint said.

"Family?"

"Dead."

"Adoptives?"

"Dead."

"Siblings?"

"Dead."

"Wow. That is…"

"Horrifying?" Sam finished. "Yes, very horrifying. Now can we get back on track? Fury wanted to be her guardian. Why?"

"She needed something, someone to help her, for her to look up to. I trusted her enough, and she trusts me."

"Why would she need someone to look up to?" Steve inquired.

"She's been through shit, as you know. But a _lot_ of it. At eleven she got caught underage drinking and smoking weed. _Eleven_. You know why? She had nobody to look up to. Still doesn't. Her teachers at school were dicks, her parents died, kids at her school taunted her.

"I felt… that if she had someone to look after her, maybe she would turn out better…" He paused for a while. "Screw it, I only made things worse. Now she's far too dangerous to let out." Fury propped his elbow on the table and put his head on his fist. It was almost as if… he felt… _sorry_ for her.

"Well, what about that other person we captured? She obviously was working for I.N.D.R.A., but she escaped. What do we do with her? We don't know anything about her or what other powers she has." Vision interrupted. "Even with the Mindstone I still can't find out _what_ she is, and considering those powers of hers, I know she is definitely not human, probably not of this world either."

"Neither does I.N.D.R.A." Steve informed. "I read her files. Turns out I.N.D.R.A. knows more about Ari than they know about Cassie. But I did find something weird. Apparently she was a part of some program to train elite soldiers and spies, and the program was between I.N.D.R.A. and H.Y.D.R.A. This seems suspicious…"

"It does, I will admit." Natasha repeated. "With that power and training, she's got to be one damn strong soldier."

"She's more trained than Ari, but I wouldn't say she's better than her. Remember that Ari has more power that we know of, at least I think anyways." Fury broke back into the conversation.

"Ari does, I can tell you that." Wanda countered. "I don't know how much power, but she has a _whole_ lot. More than you could ever think."

Everybody suddenly got a random migraine at the same time. It was strange, seven people in the same room getting a migraine at the same time. Yeah, definitely strange. Everyone turned their attention to Wanda, silently asking her if she did it.

"It wasn't me," She held her hands up in protest. "I got the headache too."

"What _was_ that?" Fury said almost rage-like.


	9. Chapter 8

Fury was transported to the roof of the facility where he saw Ari standing on the ledge. Her back was facing him.

"The world looks… so small from here." she mused. "I haven't seen the world in seven years, do you want me to see the world again like _this_?"

"What do you mean?" He asked. No response. "Ari! What do you _mean_?" Still no response. "Please don't do what I think-"

"The wind feels great. I haven't felt this in so long." she inched closer to the very edge. Fury took two massive steps towards her. She looked back just to make eye contact with him. There were tears in her eyes.

"This is better than being stuck in there for the rest of my life." He ran forward and grabbed her wrist, trying to tug her off of the ledge. She tugged her wrist out of his grip and pushed him back.

"You don't care about me." She told him, "If you cared I wouldn't be in there." She jumped off, Fury was struggling to get to his feet.

Steve was surrounded by his war veteran friends. Their uniforms were bloody, and when they saw him they all turned to him. He could make out Peggy in the distance. Everybody, except for Steve, cocked their heads.

"It's your fault that we died…" They all said monotonously in unison. "You caused us to die."

"Wh-what?"

"You caused us to die. We would all be alive if it weren't for you…"

"Th-That's not true! I didn't do anything!" Steve kept telling himself over and over again as the music and dancing resumed. He saw Peggy twirl towards him. She was wearing a long, black short sleeve dress and high heels. Her brown hair was curled perfectly and her lipstick was a dark shade of red.

"Hello, Steve." She said in her beautiful British accent.

"Peggy." He breathed. He reached out to grab her hand but she jerked it away.

"You left me." She started walking towards him while he backed away. "I'm old, crippled, I married someone I didn't love nearly as much as I loved you." She reached under her skirt and pulled out a knife, probably from a thigh-holster. She raised it up, Steve could've easily taken her down. He was _Captain America_. But would he take her down? No.

So he let himself get stabbed by the woman he loved most.

Dancers twirled and jumped around Natasha, dancing to Tchaikovsky's _Swan Lake_. Her muscles remembered the moves that the Red Room taught her and joined in. Surprisingly, even though it had been _years_ since she had danced, she got every move right and was the most graceful in the entire ensemble. She, of course, was Odette. The woman who got turned into a swan. Her white dress suddenly changed to black in a short burst of feathers.

Then she was in a training room, only fifteen years old, being forced to kill a man she didn't know. She loaded the gun, cocked it and looked away. She never fired. Natalia Alianovna Romanova was a killer of many things, but she would not be a killer of the innocent. A hand went over her mouth and another around her neck.

" _Shoot the damn man_." They growled in Russian. She saw a metal arm grasping her neck and tried to break free, but she couldn't.

" _No_." She gasped while pulling at the metal arm. The cool metal fingers were like fire to her neck, she finally ripped them off and pointed the gun at the owner of the arm. He had long, shaggy, brown hair that went down to his shoulders.

" _Who are you_?" She demanded.

" _My name is-_ "

Tony was a mere inches from getting crushed by rubble. He saw Pepper and Happy lying unconscious, they were close to being dead. But if he saved them he might not make it out, but he didn't want their deaths to happen, _ever_. His suits were destroyed, Jocasta was no longer responsive or working. All he had was his body and his brain. He dodged the falling rubble swiftly and got to both of them.

Realization hit him: He only had the strength to carry one of them out. He racked his brain for who to choose. He grabbed Pepper and swore.

"I'm sorry, Happy!" Tony cried.

What Thor witnessed was horrifying. Jane, Darcy, Odin, Loki, everybody he had _ever_ cared about was slain brutally. He heard shaggy breathing and looked around to see who it was.

"Thor…" a woman coughed. Jane. He ran to her side and gently lifted her head up off the ground.

"Jane, my darling, who did this to you?" He cried while holding his dying love in his strong arms. Jane reached up and tugged a strand of his golden blonde hair.

"You don't remember?" Her voice was quiet and raspy. She coughed up blood.

"Who?"

"Thor… It was _you_. I don't know why, but… Why'd you do it?"

"I did not do this! Are you sure it was me?"

"Who else would be bashing someone's skull in with Mjolnir in their hand? Who would use lightning and be wearing those same clothes? You have blood on you, Thor, my blood, our blood."

Thor looked down and saw that blood was indeed on his clothes. Jane's breathing stilled.

"J-Jane?" He sobbed while tears were running down his face.

Sam's partner fell. Fell down, straight into the ground. Nothing he could do about it. He just… Fell. Then it happened again, and again, and again. It was a never ending loop. And Sam had to keep watching, because if he intervened, his partner would just die again the next time.

Rhodey was back in the Air Force, on a fighter jet. He guided the plane towards an enemy base. Flashing lights came on throughout the plane and he checked the radar. Two missiles were heading his way, both nuclear. They were too close to stop so he said this:

"It was an honor serving my country, general. I hope to see you on the other side."

The explosion was an array of oranges and yellow. James Rhodes was dead in two seconds flat.

Vision was locked in a computer. Banging on the screen to get free. Nobody would listen, in fact, he wasn't all too sure he was making any noise at all. Blackness started to run through the program.

"Program deleted in five… four… three… two…

"One."

Black. That was all he could see. Black.

Pink swirled around the sixteen-year-old Wanda as she manipulated the letter blocks they left in her cell. Her twin brother, Pietro, was speeding around knocking into walls because he couldn't control it. She smashed the blocks together, causing them to splinter into tiny pieces on the ground.

Her brother was standing in front of her. Blood was spilling out of his chest and onto the ground. His electric blue eyes went dead and she screamed in grief. Then it happened again, and again, and again.

As if Pietro's death wasn't painful enough. Now she had to endure it _endlessly_. Ultron clamped his hand over her mouth and set her in a chair that looked like something out of a horror movie.

"This'll teach you not to disobey, filthy, disgusting human." He flipped a switch and watched as the electrical currents tore through Wanda's fragile body.

Then she was eating a nice, happy, uneventful dinner with her family. And explosion rang throughout and made the floor collapse under her parents which sent them falling down to their deaths. Pietro grabbed her and they hid under the bed. Another grenade landed two feet from their faces. It didn't go off for two days, but once they think they finally were going to be freed from under the bed…

The grenade went off, killing everyone and everything in its wake, except for one person. The only survivor in Sokovia was poor, six year old, Wanda Maximoff.

Clint saw his family being held hostage by the one villain he knew that knew about his family. Loki was playing with Laura's chestnut hair, twirling it around his long, slender finger. The Trickster God went to his children, Cooper, Nathaniel, and Lila. Nathaniel, only two, Cooper, only ten, Lila, only nine. They were too young, too innocent.

"What a gorgeous family you have, bird. Such a shame they'll have to go." Loki sighed.

"Kill me, do whatever you want, just don't harm them!" Clint and Laura both said at the same time.

"Well… Look what we have here! Protective parents. How _awfully_ disgusting. You would sacrifice your lives for these sacks of meat?"

"Talk about my kids that way one more time!" Laura yelled.

"Now now, ," Loki tsked, "Words like that can get you into _serious_ trouble." Loki gave the mischievous grin he always pulled when he had a sinister plan in mind, it was his trademark. He ran a finger down her cheek and she leaned her head the other way.

"Don't touch her, you bastard!" Loki scowled at Clint's words.

"Such a foul mouth, Barton. Shame I can't put your skills to use again, like last time. Do you remember that?"

"I do."

"Good times, right?" Loki laughed while bringing out his knife. "Oh, I do have _one_ more person to show you…" Loki snapped his fingers and there was Ari. Tied up, bloody, _helpless_.

"Ari?!" Laura and Clint said at the same time, again. There was rope in her mouth tied so tight that she couldn't even make a sound come out of her pale lips. She struggled to get free, but nothing worked.

"Such a powerful girl… wouldn't you say so, Clint? I mean, she has almost killed everybody in S.H.I.E.L.D., numerous times."

"Sh-She has?" Loki grabbed Ari's chin and jerked her forward, which almost made her fall on her face.

"Yes, she has, only… You weren't there." He inched his knife closer to her throat. "She's done many other things as well… Did you know about that?"

"Like what?"

"She broke the mirror at one point, used a shard of glass to cut herself up, and used the blood to write a message on the wall. Did you know that?"

"N-No." Clint shuddered. "What was the message?"

"It was: _Please get me out of here, I can't take it anymore_." The background changed to that day. Ari changed positions, as she was then lying on the floor, bleeding, her blood was scrawled on the wall in the same message that Loki said. So he _was_ speaking the truth! It seemed almost impossible.

"You see what happens when you leave people alone, scared, with nobody to trust ever again?"

Loki circled around slowly, deciding who he should kill first. His eyes lit up as he went behind Laura and showed off the knife in a cruel manner. He then brought the knife to her throat and-

Ari was in her cell. Not her S.H.I.E.L.D. one, but her I.N.D.R.A. one. Her wrists were bound to the wall, she couldn't move. There was rope over her mouth, she couldn't even whisper it was so tight. The door creaked open and she saw… _him_. No. _No_. She knew where this was headed. He got closer to her and stroked her hair.

"My Snow White…" He cooed. She tried to kick him but her legs were bound to the floor. He put his hand on her shoulder and inched his face closer and closer to her…

Other I.N.D.R.A. horrors too gruesome to even think about happened again. Beating, stabbing, cutting, poisoning, anything that could kill someone was used on the poor Ari.

Then there she was, at the top of the Chrysler building. People were screaming at her, telling her to not do it. A police officer was behind her saying things that would get a normal person off, but not Ari. She looked down to see everything being normal except for a few people staring in horror. How could such a _little girl_ be doing this?

"Please, get off there!" Begged the officer. "You have no need for it! You're so young."

"I do have a need for it! You don't know what I've been through, the shit I've seen! You don't understand, nobody here does.

"The only person who _ever_ understood me was ripped away from me, and I can't see her ever again!" Ari howled and then stepped off.

Screams rang throughout the city as she fell into the road and the concrete of the roads got closer and closer to her…

Blood. Blood was everywhere. On her hands, on the other people. _Other people_? She looked around to see Fury, Nat, Clint, Wanda, Jillian, her friends, her family, all dead. Two families, actually. Her birth family and her last adoptive family. Everything faded out except for the last adoptive family.

A knife went flying straight at the six year old Ari. But her adoptive father, Jay Turner, blocked it with his arm. It came at a terrible price. His arm got cut off. He fell to the floor as Ari, Jillian, and their adoptive mother, Rosalind, were screaming their heads off in fright. The man who threw the knife then threw one at Rosalind's heart, who went down instantly dead. He then proceeded to cut out Jay's heart.

"Look, girls," the man cackled, "He really _does_ love you!" The two girls were huddled in the corner, crying and frightened.

Then it switched to Jillian lying in the snow, bleeding from her neck. Not this, _anything_ but this! Ari's knees were firmly planted in the snow as she held her sister.

"Ari, tell your friends I said 'hi'." Jillian coughed up blood.

"No… you're going to be able to say 'hi' to them yourself, do you understand me?" Tears were running down Ari's face. Her only family was dying. "You aren't going to die, you're all I have left! I can't lose you too! I-I'll make sure you meet them! I promise you're going to make it out alive!"

"Don't make a promise you can't keep, Ari."

"No, I'm gonna keep it! Y-You'll see!"

"Ari, we both know that's not true." Jillian's voice was becoming weaker and weaker. Black lines ran up and down her pale skin and her eyes turned black.

"I can't lose you too, I can't. Jillian… I'll have nobody! Please hold on, for me. I-I'll do whatever you want, just please, stay awake."

"I do have one thing to ask of you…" Jillian raised her weak hand to Ari's throat and brushed it with her fingertips. "Promise me… that you'll… you'll… put that beautiful voice of yours to good use."

"I already have." Ari sniffed.

"Keep doing it. The world _needs_ Arina Lucina Phoenix." Jillian smiled and stopped moving. No pulse, no breath, just sirens wailing in the background. Ari felt a hand grip her neck and felt a sharp pang.

"This'll teach you to not run away, my dear, sweet, Ari…" Things got blurry, Ari thought it was the poison they gave to Jillian, but it wasn't, because she didn't die. Things started to lose their color and the white slowly turned to gray. Then the world went to black.

They all, save for Ari, woke up in a hospital room. They all looked around at each other. You could see the emptiness in a few people's eyes.

"You sure that wasn't you? It seems like something you did before." Tony asked Wanda.

"I can assure you, it wasn't me." She said quietly.

"I know who it was." Fury growled while running off. He ran to Ari's cell and stomped in there. He didn't see her, but he could see where her chains were leading, under her bed. He grabbed the chains and jerked her out from under the bed and up onto her feet in a quick movement.

Fury slammed her into the wall angrily and looked into her heterochromic eyes. He was panting heavily with anger.

"Why did you do that?!"

"I didn't do it!" Ari shrieked while tears ran down her face. This drove him to raise her off the ground and choke her. By then everybody was in the doorway watching the scene unfold.

"You did!" Ari's face was turning purple.

"Get off me!"

"Not until you admit it."

"Fury get off me!" She was crying again.

"I will when you admit."

"Get off!"

"No." She had had _enough_. Him saying he cared about her, yet all he ever did was abuse and torture her. It was _him_ all over again. She did _not_ want that.

"Get off of me you dick!" She growled, but he did no such thing.

His grip around her throat tightened and the lights started flickering. Things in the control room started to blow fuses and practically explode. The ground started to shake and Ari clenched her fist with what little energy she had left.

Fury howled in pain and he let go. She fell to the ground gasping for breath and she flung her hand out. He crashed into the wall and left an indentation. Everybody had a horrified expression on their faces, you could even read fear from their eyes. Ari wiped the tears from her face and staggered to her feet.

"Maybe, when a girl says get off, you should get _off_." She hissed while moving her hand to the right, which in turn moved Fury in the same direction.

"What power is-"

"Bloodbending." Ari interrupted Natasha while still causing Fury pain. She swung her arm to the left making Fury fly into the wall again.

"Don't act surprised." She sighed, "I've been able to do this… and _much_ more, for a _long_ time. But has he _ever_ given a damn about how much power I keep locked away to protect people? How I could tear this whole place apart with just blinking but I haven't because I want to prove my loyalty? No, and he never will, will he?

"I could rip this universe apart and build a new one if I wanted to, with all the power that's locked away in my mind. I could kill everything, everyone, anything that has _ever_ existed! But will I do it? No. It seems _Fury_ doesn't appreciate that! He doesn't appreciate what I'm giving up to be in here."

By then things were starting to catch fire and nobody could put them out. The lights were flickering a lot, almost in morse code… It translated to: _He doesn't care, nobody does_. Ari _really_ seemed like she was ready to rip the place apart. At that point the Avengers feared stepping in, they knew Ari wasn't lying about this.

"I've gotten shot in the head twenty times for _you_. Throat slit thirty-seven times, poisoned thirteen times! I've killed _over_ four-thousand people for you, whether it was officially listed or not. I've risked my _life_ for you! And don't give me the 'you're an immortal' bullshit. I've done all this, and not even a goddamn praise or even a 'thank you'!"

Ari clenched her fist and Fury's wrist snapped. All her powers stopped, no flickering, no more fire. No shaking of the ground, the computers were unfortunately in terrible shape due to the blown fuses.

"Don't come in here _ever_ again, Fury, do you understand?" He nodded his head. "Good. Get out." She pointed towards the door and shooed him, along with the others, out of the room. Clint stayed and sighed.

"You really are somethin, ya know that?"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" She didn't look at him, not after what happened the day before.

"What did you see?" Ari bit her lip at the question and she could feel the tears coming on.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You know what I saw?" She shook her head. "Loki was there. He had my family and was about to slit their throats. And then he brought out you… God, it made me mad."

"How are they?"

"Cooper and Lila are great, Nathaniel's still drooling." Clint laughed.

"Nathaniel?"

"That's right, you don't know. New kid." A long silence spread through the room. Then finally,

"I saw my sister dying again."

"You never told me about her."

"There's nothing really to tell. She died over ten years ago." Nothing would make her tell him about Jillian. _Nothing_.

"Did you see anything else?"

"Parents dying left and right, nothing out of the ordinary." She didn't dare tell him that she saw them, dead, about her I.N.D.R.A. capture. That was something nobody would hear, at least for a long time.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, huh?" She nodded in response. "Okay then." His voice was a little higher than usual and he was giving her his 'are-you-sure' look. "What _was_ that to begin with?"

"Alhudun ruh sharira."

"I'm sorry what?"

"I-It's a dimension where all your terrible memories and fears are played over and over again until someone pulls you out."

"Did you pull us out?"

"I was having a breakdown and hiding, what do you think?"

"Then who did?"

"You know… I'd be _very_ capable of figuring that out in an instant if I wasn't trapped in a place _that makes me hallucinate and gets rid of my powers_!" She stomped her foot on the floor hard.

He knew she was right. She shouldn't have been in there. But Fury wouldn't let her out and nothing he could do would change that. Perhaps… if there was a group effort… Maybe she could get out. It certainly was a _possibility_ , but it would take time and effort. One of those things was far out of reach. Clint walked out, he knew she had enough for one day. Between the hallucinations and Fury… She needed time to relax. _Everybody_ needed to relax. Maybe the next day would work out… For now they needed to rest and just try to wipe everything from their minds.


End file.
